Applications like high-energy attosecond pulse generation, generation of high harmonics from solid targets, and laser electron acceleration all benefit from few-cycle pulse durations and excellent pulse contrast while requiring multi-millijoule pulse energy. Our most powerful high energy OPCPA systems are scalable to multi-TW peak powers at kHz repetition rates while maintaining few-cycle pulse durations. Thus, they fit the most demanding requirements while providing stability and reliability unprecedented for systems of this scale.

Furthermore, > 10¹² pre-pulse contrast is obtained without complex and lossy nonlinear pulse cleaning techniques, while < 250 mrad CEP stability and < 1.5% pulse energy stability are maintained throughout a full day of operation, making it a robust and reliable multi-TW system.

Specifications

Model	OPCPA-HE
Center wavelength	800 nm	1600 nm	2000 nm
Pump source	Picosecond Nd:YAG lasers, seeded by ORPHEUS-OPCPA
Repetition rate	10 Hz – 1 kHz
Maximum output pulse energy ¹⁾	120 mJ	100 mJ	50 mJ
Pulse duration ¹⁾	< 9 fs	< 50 fs	< 30 fs
CEP stability, 1h ^{1) 2)}	< 250 mrad
Long-term power stability, 8 h ^{1) 3)}	< 1.5%
Pulse-to-pulse energy stability, 1 min ^{1) 3)}	< 1.5%

Typical values. For custom inquiries, contact sales@lightcon.com.
CEP values calculated from unaveraged, single-shot measurements.
Expressed as as normalized root mean squared deviation (NRMSD).

Performance

High-dynamic-range third order autocorrelation measurement of an OPCPA-HE system

OPCPA-HE output spectrum

OPCPA-HE pulse energy, f-2f interferogram and CEP stability measured over 16 h

Temporal profile of OPCPA-HE output pulses measured with a self-referenced spectral interferometry device

4.5 TW, 1 kHz OPCPA for ELI-ALPS

The LIGHT CONVERSION and EKSPLA consortium have built the SYLOS laser system at the ELI-ALPS facility. To our knowledge, the SYLOS laser system at 1 kHz repetition rate generated four times higher peak power pulses compared to the state-of-the-art systems at that time.

The SYLOS laser system is based on LIGHT CONVERSION’s optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifiers (OPCPAs) driven by our PHAROS femtosecond laser and EKSPLA’s picosecond laser. PHAROS pumps two femtosecond OPAs. The first OPA produces passively CEP stabilized pulse at 1.3 µm, which is used for generation of CEP-stable white-light continuum (WLC). At the same time, the second OPA amplifies the WLC in the 700 – 1000 nm spectral range, providing high-contrast seed pulse for the subsequent OPCPA stages. The pulse, amplified to 50 mJ pulse energy at 850 nm central wavelength, is compressed in a sequence of glass blocks and chirped mirrors down to 10 fs pulse duration.

References:

R. Budriūnas et al. “53 W average power CEP-stabilized OPCPA system delivering 5.5 TW few cycle pulses at 1 kHz repetition rate,” Opt. Express 25, 5797-5806 (2017).
Sz. Toth et al. “SYLOS lasers–the frontier of few-cycle, multi-TW, kHz lasers for ultrafast applications at extreme light infrastructure attosecond light pulse source,” Journal of Physics: Photonics 2, 045003 (2020).

SYLOS laser system block diagram. Blue blocks – parts manufactured by LIGHT CONVERSION.

LIGHT CONVERSION and EKSPLA consortium team with SYLOS laser system ready for delivery.

SYLOS has been launched in ELI-ALPS facility in Hungary on 15th of May, 2019

SYLOS laser system installed in ELI-ALPS facility in Hungary on 15th of May, 2019.

Publications

SYLOS lasers – the frontier of few-cycle, multi-TW, kHz lasers for ultrafast applications at extreme light infrastructure attosecond light pulse source

S. Toth, T. Stanislauskas, I. Balciunas, R. Budriunas, J. Adamonis, R. Danilevicius, K. Viskontas, D. Lengvinas, G. Veitas, D. Gadonas et al., Journal of Physics: Photonics 4 (2), 045003 (2020).

53 W average power CEP-stabilized OPCPA system delivering 55 TW few cycle pulses at 1 kHz repetition rate

R. Budriūnas, T. Stanislauskas, J. Adamonis, A. Aleknavičius, G. Veitas, D. Gadonas, S. Balickas, A. Michailovas, and A. Varanavičius, Optics Express 5 (25), 5797 (2017).

OPCPA CEP stabilization ORPHEUS-OPCPA OPCPA-HE

Performance tests of the 5 TW, 1 kHz, passively CEP-stabilized ELI-ALPS SYLOS few-cycle laser system (Conference Presentation)

T. Stanislauskas, R. Budriunas, G. Veitas, D. Gadonas, J. Adamonis, A. Aleknavičius, G. Masian, Z. Kuprionis, D. Hoff, G. G. Paulus et al., in High-Power, High-Energy, and High-Intensity Laser Technology III, J. Hein, ed. (SPIE, 2017).

OPCPA OPCPA-HE

The ELI-ALPS facility: the next generation of attosecond sources

S. Kühn, M. Dumergue, S. Kahaly, S. Mondal, M. Füle, T. Csizmadia, B. Farkas, B. Major, Z. Várallyay, E. Cormier et al., Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 13 (50), 132002 (2017).

OPCPA Laser pumping and seeding PHAROS ORPHEUS-OPCPA OPCPA-HE

Datasheeets